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House, Senate face funding hurdles to avoid shutdown

House, Senate face funding hurdles to avoid shutdown

The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base BARRIE BARBER/STAFF

The House and the Senate could find itself at odds over a short-term funding deal to avoid a federal government shutdown at midnight Thursday, reports say.

House Republicans reportedly were considering a vote today on a continuing resolution, or a short-term spending measure, through March 23, but which would also fully funding the Defense Department for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

As part of the proposed deal, the stopgap would add two years of federal funding for a community health center program, The Washington Post reported.

But Democrats have taken a stand any increase in defense spending must be met with a rise in non-defense spending, officials say. The Senate, meanwhile, was working on a two-year budget deal to prevent a shutdown.

Michael Gessel, Dayton Development Coalition vice president of federal affairs, predicted there would be no shutdown this time, calling it a “political loser.”

“Both sides now believe it’s a political liability to allow the government to shut down,” he said. “We may see some brinkmanship, but in the end, it’s likely they will all come together (with) something.”

A three-day partial federal government shutdown Jan. 20 sent about 8,600 Wright-Patterson civil service workers home on a one-day work week furlough before congressional lawmakers reached a deal to reopen the government.

The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, which opened four hours on the first day of the shutdown, and National Park Service sites in the region temporarily closed. It marked the first shutdown since October 2013.